A departmental plan describes a department's priorities, plans, and associated costs for the upcoming 3 fiscal years.
Key priorities
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) strategic vision for 2025 to 2028 guides the CFIA's work to protect the health of Canada's animals and plants and maintain a globally recognized model for food safety. This direction responds to external trends and internal drivers, equips the agency to adapt to the evolving agri-food landscape and meet the needs of Canadians and regulated parties. The CFIA's key priorities for 2025 to 2026 reflect the goals of the strategic vision and the agency's contributions to the health and well-being of Canadians and a strong, innovative, and sustainable economy.
Keeping Canadians food safe and protecting our animal and plant resources
Safeguarding Canada's food system and upholding Canada's international reputation for food safety and plant and animal health requires continuous work to remain agile and responsive to the needs of the public, Indigenous peoples, and businesses. By advancing regulatory modernization initiatives, the CFIA will ensure that rules remain current and adaptive to scientific and technological advancements. These actions will help maintain a best-in-class system for years to come, and position Canadian businesses to grow and adapt to the changing global landscape.
Appropriate oversight, enforcement, and promoting compliance with regulations help Canadians and trade partners remain confident in the safety of Canada's food supply and plant and animal products. The agency will ensure that rules are clear, easy to understand, and accessible through digital platforms so that businesses are well-informed of their responsibilities and the consequences of non-compliance. By focusing enforcement efforts on areas of highest risk, the CFIA aims to mitigate the most significant threats to Canadians' health, food safety, and plant and animal health. When emergencies arise, the CFIA will respond swiftly and effectively in collaboration with its partners to safeguard Canadians and the economy.
Enabling businesses to contribute, grow, and support Canada's economy
Canadian businesses rely on clear and predictable regulations and depend on market access in order to be successful both domestically and internationally, contributing to economic growth, innovation, and long-term sustainability. As a science-based regulator, the CFIA plays a key role in enabling this success by supporting safe, fair, and predictable market access and conditions for the agriculture and agri-food sectors. The CFIA will continue to demonstrate leadership in science and standard-setting, earning international recognition and helping to ensure that Canadian products meet global requirements and foster confidence in Canada's regulatory system. By leveraging modern, digital systems, the agency will streamline services to enhance pre-market assessments and advance mutual recognition with trusted domestic and international partners. The CFIA will continue its ongoing work to modernize regulatory approaches and strengthen key partnerships that support sustainable economic growth. These efforts will ensure that businesses are well-positioned to contribute to Canada's prosperity and resilience now and in the future.
Valuing and investing in our people
The CFIA aspires to be an employer of choice by fostering a skilled, diverse, and agile workforce by empowering employees to contribute meaningfully to the agency's mission and uphold a culture of integrity and excellence in scientific rigor, professional competence, and ethical decision-making. To achieve this, the agency will focus on recruiting, retaining, and fostering top talent, while promoting a workplace that is inclusive, equitable, and accessible. Investments in digital tools, savvy technology, advances in laboratory infrastructure, and targeted training will ensure that the agency is positioned to anticipate and adapt to evolving challenges and drive innovation in today's dynamic work environment.
The CFIA is committed to establishing and maintaining a safe and accessible workplace with a workforce that is reflective of the diversity of the Canadians it serves. The agency is committed to fostering a workplace where employees are respected, supported, and recognized for their expertise, dedication, and contributions. We value a respectful, developmental, and professional environment for everyone.
Highlights
In 2025 to 2026, total planned spending (including internal services) for the CFIA is $916,844,964 and total planned full-time equivalent staff (including internal services) is 6,211. For complete information on the CFIA's total planned spending and human resources, read the Planned spending and human resources section of the full plan.
The following provides a summary of the CFIA's planned achievements for 2025 to 2026 according to its approved Departmental Results Framework. A Departmental Results Framework consists of a department's core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve, and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.
Core responsibility 1: Safe food and healthy plants and animals
Planned spending: $737,075,981
Planned human resources: 5,175
Departmental results:
- Food sold in Canada is safe and accurately represented to Canadians
- identify risks to prevent and reduce harm from potential food safety risks by conducting food labelling surveys to detect hazards that are tied to food fraud, food adulteration, and labelling issues, and taking advantage of new technologies to enhance the methods used to detect and predict these risks
- apply risk-based decision making in overseeing the food supply system
- ensure compliance requirements are clear and promoted to regulated parties and what consequences can be expected with non-compliance
- take enforcement action when non-compliances are found to uphold the safety and integrity of the Canadian food system so that Canadians have confidence that products are safe and labelled accurately
- support prosperity for people and businesses in Canada by expanding access to digital services and modernizing the delivery of inspection programs to increase efficiencies, while maintaining Canada's high standards for food safety
- Plant and animal resources are protected from diseases and pests and are safe for Canadians and the environment
- collaborate with provinces, territories, Indigenous partners, and industry on measures to support Canada's readiness to manage outbreaks and respond to animal and plant health emergencies when they occur
- through a One Health approach, continue working to prevent and contain threats to plant and animal health through improved surveillance measures that leverage technology to gain efficiencies
- advance work on a modern, flexible, and responsive regulatory framework for Canada by proposing consequential amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations and Seeds Regulations
- combat antimicrobial resistance and work to preserve the effectiveness of treatments that Canadians rely on daily by working with federal partners to deliver the Pan-Canadian Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and promoting the responsible use of antimicrobials in animals
- collaborate with partners to ensure readiness for FMD or ASF response in the event of their introduction to Canada
- lead Canada's participation at international fora dedicated to developing transparent, science and rules-based standards that are consistent with Canada's regulatory approaches to safeguard Canada's food system, plant and animal resources, and that are not counter to Canadian interests
- Canadian food, plants and animals and their associated products can be traded internationally
- facilitate international trade, including gaining, re-gaining, enhancing and maintaining market access for Canadian food, plants, and animals and their products in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Global Affairs Canada, and other federal departments
- advance Canada's interests by influencing the development of international rules and science-based standards to enhance safety, fairness, and predictability in the international trade of food, plant, and animal products
- co-lead, with Global Affairs Canada, the negotiations of sanitary and phytosanitary measures in Canada's free trade agreements which aim to protect human, animal, and plant health while facilitating trade
More information about safe food and healthy plants and animals can be found in the full plan.